Motivation

With the dawn of a new decade comes the declaring of new intentions, the swearing of new resolutions and the shouting out of new mindsets. Whatever. The fact that my little project began with the new decade is purely coincidental. My project begins now because the weather has turned nasty and I refuse to be outdoors more than I have to.

You see, I recently came to a conclusion. I am too young to be this out of shape. I realized this quite some months ago and looked at my running shoes. They looked back, all sad and neglected. We haven't been on speaking terms in a long long time. I slipped them on and hit the street. It was not a pretty sight. I was right back to square one, the walk one minute run one minute, the absolute square one of the Running Room's Learn to Run program. That my friends was a humbling morning. After 3 months I improved to the point of actually running not staggering - not fast but no longer being overtaken by the seniors from the home down the road. And I felt better, I had more energy. Just as I was hitting my stride Mother Nature hit me on the head as she does every December - winter. Of course I should have expected that, I do live in Canada. My running shoes cried as I slipped them back into the closet knowing this meant they would gather dust until May when my motivation is usually gone again. But not this year.

This year I am running across France.

In my quest to shape up I have joined a gym and plan on using the treadmill several times a week until the weather is nice enough to run outside. Then I plan on continuing to run, nothing major, just short little bits on a regular basis. To keep my tiny little brain actively involved in this mindless hamster wheel of a treadmill I have decided to track myself in a more interesting route. France.

France, land of cheese, Julia Child, wine, vineyards, villages, chateaux and coastlines. Not too large, not too small. I could fly there, rent a car and drive the distance in a matter of weeks. That's not the point. I could spend my savings and spend the next 2 years actually running the country but that's not the point either. I'm just looking for a diversion while I shape up. Thanks to technology (Google earth) I can live my happy life here in Canada and still run across France.

I am not a fast runner, I am not a distance runner. This will take some time.